OXNARD, CAMARILLO : More Benefits Asked for Teacher Aides

Although they work only 30 hours per week, teacher aides in Oxnard and Camarillo high schools are demanding the same medical and vacation benefits given full-time workers.

In a proposal presented to the Oxnard Union High School District board this week, the employees union requested a 5% pay increase for the district’s 96 teacher aides and full-time benefits for those who work 30 hours per week.

The aides, most of whom work with special education students, are paid hourly. Most of them receive less than $10 per hour.

Although some are at the schools only 3 1/2 hours a day, most work the entire school day--from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.--and are paid for six hours, said Mike Terman, executive secretary of the Oxnard Federation of Teachers.

Currently, aides who put in 3 1/2 hours a day receive no benefits. Those who put in four hours get 50% of medical coverage, vacation time and other benefits.

Aides who work six hours a day get 75% of the benefits until they have held their job 10 years, when they get full coverage.

Terman said aides who put in the full six hours deserve full benefits from the time they start their jobs because they are working the maximum amount of time possible each week.

“This is their job,” he said. “They can’t work any more hours. There’s no more hours for them.”

Terman said many districts already give full benefits to teacher aides who work the maximum six hours a day or 30 hours a week. The 60 aides who work at schools run by the Ventura County superintendent of schools, for example, get full coverage, an official from the county superintendent’s office said.

Oxnard Supt. Bill Studt said the district will hold a public hearing on the union’s proposal and present a counteroffer in January.